We recently connected with Tiara Hunt Smith and have shared our conversation below.

Tiara, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

Bringing resources to underserved, minority communities is a priority for Strengthening Her Evolution, Inc. (SHE) to make an impact in the lives of our female youth. Our organization is one of the only nonprofits that focus & center their work around minority, female youth in Cobb County, GA. African-American youth make up about 30 percent of the county & over half are underserved. Our programs give girls greater insight into issues, offer them strategies, solutions and guidance around effective communication, developing self-esteem and character, cultural awareness, and economic conditions. SHE programs teach girls how to prepare & overcome barriers they will face. We believe that when girls succeed, society succeeds.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have always been very passionate about serving and leading our female youth down the right path for success. A native of Mobile, AL, I grew up in a household where education was of paramount importance. I was heavily involved in performing arts as a child and continued throughout high school, which earned me a vocal scholarship to Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, AL. where I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management. I continued my education by obtaining a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Walden University. I knew that the accomplishments that I had achieved came because I had mentors, and developmental programs that taught me to believe in myself and go for the things I wanted in life. I began my path of mentoring and helping female youth 15 years ago as a modeling and etiquette instructor. This came with being a friend, mentor, counselor and motivator for the girls that I came in contact with. Seeing the girls flourish and be successful in school and other endeavors made my heart proud. Over the years, I continued my mission to share my knowledge and provide invaluable experiences as a cheerleading coach and high school auxiliary mentor to young girls. I quickly realized that mentoring and teaching female youth was my true calling and passion. Through these encounters, I felt it necessary to provide support for the female youth outside of the home. Understanding the importance of life skills such as cultural and emotional awareness, etiquette, and dealing with relationships, I knew this organization was necessary. This is when (SHE) was born. Strengthening Her Evolution, Inc’s vision is to empower female youth to discover the aptitude of their talents, knowledge & abilities in order to be a productive citizen, world leader or professional, while staying true to the essence of a woman.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After the full business and development plan was complete for Strengthening Her Evolution, Inc, we were prepared to launch the business in the Spring 2020. Then something happened that none of us had never experienced before… a world-wide pandemic! This was a hurdle that I had never planned for or even thought about. I don’t think anything could have prepared us for this. Schools, businesses and households went into lockdown due to Covid-19. I became very concerned about how we would move forward with introducing SHE to the community with everyone being at home. I decided to still move forward with reaching out to schools and community partners to share information about SHE. I was persistent about making the right connections even if we could not begin working with students in person. Fast forward – the good news is that we were able to make the right partnerships and brought services uniquely to partners in 2021 virtually. We moved forward with having an official launch event in January 2022, where we could actually meet and greet the community. I am extremely grateful that I did not allow the pandemic to stop me from bringing this much needed resource to the community.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

As a 501(c)3 organization, we rely solely on donations in order to bring our resources and programs to female youth. Because we are still a very new non-profit organization, federal grants are not available to us. Our board has done several fundraisers and solicited private donations in order to keep our programs moving forward. We were able to raise the funds needed to have our very first Summer Camp, which we offered to girls for FREE!! This was a huge accomplishment as ALL of our donors were private. We continue to introduce the organization and expand awareness about the work we do to the philanthropic community. We are optimistic about the future and know that our funding will continue to grow over time, resulting in a larger impact of female youth ages 8 – 16 years old.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.s-h-e.us
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StrengtheningHer
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/s-h-e-inc/

Image Credits
Ashley Gibbs